A Thousand Words About Renewable and Non-Renewable Resources

Images: Source Author: USGS
The images were featured on the website of the U.S House Subcommittee on Energy and Natural Resources. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.
All images were taken from wikimedia commons

5 points for energy!
- There are 2 different categories of resources that we use for energy, renewable and non-renewable. They are separated by the thick black line.
- The yellow side shows all the renewable sources of energy and is intended to be "full of life and color"
- The black side shows all the non-renewable sources of energy and is intended to be "dark and colorless"
- The image representation in this collage is intended to send a message that non-renewable sources of energy are bad, and the renewable sources are good!
- Each of the images represents a type of power that we use

Use in the classroom
I will be returning to 6th grade science in the fall and one of my content expectations is energy. Specifically understanding how energy is transferred and what sources of energy we utilize the most. In addition, I need to educate the students on the demands for energy that the 8 billion people in this world are currently in need of. Because of the strain on these resources that cannot be renewed, it is imperative that we educate the future generation in the hopes that they will one day make the necessary changes at the government level to put a stop to the planet destroying methods we are currently using. My goal in using this image is to get students to see the "thick black line" that separates the two different types of resources. (As an extension to this activity, I could incorporate a social studies lesson where we discuss the methods associated with lobbying for a new bill, and the process involved in seeing that it is passed.)(You could even dive further into the economical portion of this debate and discuss how "big oil" is in control of everything)